# Stuff you just do NOT get... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 7, 2006, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-just-do-not-get/375617 "2006-10-07T16:57:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 15
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2006, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-just-do-not-get/375617/281 "2006-10-17T15:07:41Z")
Thank you for doing that. Just the other day I was behind someone who had about 6 feet between them and the car ahead of them. If they’d moved forward…oh… 4 inches or so, I’d have been able to squeeze past them and get into the left turn lane. Because they wouldn’t move up, I had to wait an extra light cycle to make my turn. Such an easy thing to do, why do so few do it? ---
**Author:** ![jali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecae2f/32.png) [@jali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jali)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2006, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-just-do-not-get/375617/282 "2006-10-17T15:27:48Z")
I don’t “get” all the people arguing to make other people “get” whatever it is that they do, or like, or watch, or eat, or say, or wear, or drive, or ride. As long as I “get” what I like, I really don’t care if you don’t. Are people taking the “not getting” as personal lifestyle criticisms? Is that what they are? ---
**Author:** ![Nic2004](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/4491bb/32.png) [@Nic2004](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nic2004)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2006, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-just-do-not-get/375617/283 "2006-10-17T18:34:26Z")
[QUOTE=jali] I don’t “get” all the people arguing to make other people “get” whatever it is that they do, or like, or watch, or eat, or say, or wear, or drive, or ride. As long as I “get” what I like, I really don’t care if you don’t. Are people taking the “not getting” as personal lifestyle criticisms? Is that what they are? [/QUOTE] You’re right that it’s your right not to get that they don’t get what they don’t get. Did I get it? ---
**Author:** ![JillGat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc29f/32.png) [@JillGat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JillGat)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2006, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-just-do-not-get/375617/284 "2006-10-18T04:14:43Z")
Lil Pluck said > [@](#): > > More than anything, I was using the term with regard to the way that the African-Americans who do this kind of stuff (and don’t even get me started on those goddamned doo rags!) fulfill the lowered expectations that “X” number of people in non-black culture have of African-Americans. That is to say dishevelled, slovenly, and in many other ways outliers of conventional fashion, taste, mores, and behavior. The funny thing about this perspective to me is that so much of what become mainstream “conventional” white American style starts in the African American community. Music, vocabulary, fashion… you name it. You couldn’t be more wrong, Lil Pluck. Look a little closer at these “slovenly” guys in the below-the-butt baggy pants and you’ll see that their clothes are usually very clean, pressed and neat looking, other than the bagginess. It’s a ridiculous looking style, but so are many styles. It didn’t start with slave clothes… not that it’s any better, but it most likely started with modern prison garb (jumpsuits and no belts). ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Push\_Up\_Bra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/edb3f5/32.png) [@Freudian\_Push\_Up\_Bra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Push_Up_Bra)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2006, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-just-do-not-get/375617/285 "2006-10-18T04:57:27Z")
The stopping at lights thing; I have a Hyundai Lantra; average sized sedan but my dad has a Jag Sovereign, which is a six metre long beastie that I have affectionately named the U-Boat. I would say it was like driving a boat but I can drive a boat and it’s much harder than driving a boat… Anyway, despite the fact that I only drive my dad’s car every month or so, a fifteen minute drive will stuff me up for a week. I suddenly think that my car is six metres long and am overly conscious of my boundaries. So I stop at a distance and suddenly go ‘wait! Small car!’ and roll forward. Also, a lot of young drivers have trouble judging distances as I do so we give ourselves some safety space so we can double check our distances. Also the google ads are for “The Whiz: pee standing up”, “Potty Training in 3 Days”, “Citroen Girls (woman’s car advice)” and “Kids Behaviour Contracts”. What the? ---
**Author:** ![Lucky\_13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucky_13/32/13209_2.png) [@Lucky\_13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky_13)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2006, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-just-do-not-get/375617/286 "2006-10-18T06:21:20Z")
Re: sagging pants - this is a style usually favored by gang members of varying ethnicities, I’ve noticed. I read somewhere (no cite, sorry, it was years ago) that “sagging” originated with ex-cons, as belts are not allowed in prison. ---
**Author:** ![Li\_l\_Pluck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ee59a6/32.png) [@Li\_l\_Pluck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Li_l_Pluck)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2006, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-just-do-not-get/375617/287 "2006-10-18T06:50:41Z")
[QUOTE=JillGat] Lil Pluck said > [@](#): > > More than anything, I was using the term with regard to the way that the African-Americans who do this kind of stuff (and don’t even get me started on those goddamned doo rags!) fulfill the lowered expectations that “X” number of people in non-black culture have of African-Americans. That is to say dishevelled, slovenly, and in many other ways outliers of conventional fashion, taste, mores, and behavior. The funny thing about this perspective to me is that so much of what become mainstream “conventional” white American style starts in the African American community. Music, vocabulary, fashion… you name it. You couldn’t be more wrong, Lil Pluck. Look a little closer at these “slovenly” guys in the below-the-butt baggy pants and you’ll see that their clothes are usually very clean, pressed and neat looking, other than the bagginess. It’s a ridiculous looking style, but so are many styles. It didn’t start with slave clothes… not that it’s any better, but it most likely started with modern prison garb (jumpsuits and no belts). [/QUOTE] No argument here about the appropriation by mainstream white America of certain African-American modes of being or what have you, as I am well aware of that. And thanks, by the way for reminding me of the prison garb link. I knew about that, but it’d hidden itself in one of the (increasingly) dark corners of my brain when I was writing that post. :smack: And you’re right–I probably should have used a word other than slovenly for exactly the reasons that you point out. All of that being said, however, the fact that you and I and many others know how much mainstream conventional culture is influenced by some aspects of African-American culture doesn’t preclude anyone from having low expectations of African-Americans, and it certainly doesn’t mean–regardless of how clean and pressed the baggy clothes may be (and they usually are, from what I can see)–that “X” number of people who engage in certain behaviors (including the fashion in question) aren’t, on some level anyway, fulfilling those expectations. I’m not sure if you were advancing an opposing point of view in this regard, but I just wanted to clarify my position. [QUOTE=OpalCat] FWIW, as a white (and American) person with no particular involvement in anything that could be termed “African American culture” (I have a number of black friends, but they are probably the kind of blacks that some other blacks accuse of trying to “be white”) I actually had to think about the connection to the minstrel shows. [/QUOTE] Ahh, yes, I remember fondly (not!) the sting of that particular barb. The good thing about hearing this when you’re growing up is that it helps you to grow a thicker skin (IME, anyway), so that by the time you’re an adult, and if you \*really \* know who you are, this pretty much just rolls off of your back like so much water. [QUOTE=Nic2004] Li’l Pluck- For what it’s worth I took pizzabrat’s post to be a bit hostile as well. I thought your reply to be quite to the point. I see where pizzabrat has since clarified the post.[\QUOTE] Yeah, I was wondering if it was just me. But, as you noted, he/she clarified himself/herself, so it’s all good. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Jet\_Jaguar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jet_jaguar/32/3562_2.png) [@Jet\_Jaguar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jet_Jaguar)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2006, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-just-do-not-get/375617/288 "2006-10-18T21:57:15Z")
[QUOTE=OpalCat] Thank you for doing that. Just the other day I was behind someone who had about 6 feet between them and the car ahead of them. If they’d moved forward…oh… 4 inches or so, I’d have been able to squeeze past them and get into the left turn lane. Because they wouldn’t move up, I had to wait an extra light cycle to make my turn. Such an easy thing to do, why do so few do it? [/QUOTE] 1. Nobody gives a damn about anyone but themselves. 2. People will screw you over just for the hell of it. The nice thing about commuting by motorcycle is that I can usually fit through those gaps no problem, but I don’t know how many times I’ve started for the gap only to have the car ahead turn into my path to block me. WTF?!? We’re not even going in the same direction, what difference is it to you if I turn or not? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-just-do-not-get/375617.md?page=14)